I spent two days hopping from town to town in the Cappadocia region. It was nice to get out of the main touristy town as it is far too convenient. It even has a lone Family Mart to serve Japanese/Korean tourists. One stop was Yelmati Sehir. The city has a 7 story underground city that was first home to Hitties hiding for safety and later for Christians. This reminded me of how Christianity really had its roots in the Middle East, instead of the Western character we attribute to it today.

I made it to Uchisar next and climbed a Byzantine rock castle 1500m above the ground. My readers, who are definitely smarter than me, will realize that it was a stupid idea to do so in sandals. There is something beautiful in standing on top of an ancient castle overlooking the desert and hearing the call to prayer pouring forth from minarets and echoing across the plains.

I compounded my mistake by walking down a valley and back to the next town to catch the bus taking me to the border at Syria. I would learn there whether it was a stupid mistake trying to get my visa at the border there rather than at a Syrian embassy. On the bus to the border, there was an amusing advertisement for a Turkish brand using only Korean actors. The reach of Korean pop culture is amazing. I also met a 60 year old former hippie who in the 70s took a bus from Amsterdam to India. When I asked how it was, he said he was too high to remember much of it.